Netmanias Technical Document: Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

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Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

Table of Contents
I.

Introduction

II.

Procedures for Detecting IP Address Conflicts

III.

DHCP Offer/Ack Messages: Broadcast or Unicast?

IV.

State Transition of DHCP Clients

This document is the second in our DHCP technical documents series and explains the detailed operation
of DHCP. First, we will describe a procedure for detecting conflicts of IP addresses between the one just
allocated/leased through DHCP and ones previously allocated. Next, we will take a look at how DHCP
Offer/Ack messages sent by a DHCP server are transferred (broadcast or unicast). Finally, we will explain
the state transition diagram illustrating how DHCP clients make state transition as IP address allocation
and lease time procedures continue.

October 30, 2013

www.netmanias.com
NMC Consulting Group (tech@netmanias.com)

About NMC Consulting Group

NMC Consulting Group is an advanced and professional network consulting company, specializing in IP network areas (e.g., FTTH, Metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS), service
areas (e.g., IPTV, IMS and CDN), and wireless network areas (e.g., Mobile WiMAX, LTE and Wi-Fi) since 2002.
Copyright 2002-2013 NMC Consulting Group. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

Abbreviations
ACK
ARP
DHCP
IP
UDP
TCP

Acknowledgement
Address Resolution Protocol
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Internet Protocol
User Datagram Protocol
Transmission Control Protocol

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

I. Overview
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) has been widely adopted as a protocol for allocating
network configuration data, including an IP address, dynamically to a client device (PC) inside operator
networks and corporate networks over time. Despite such a wide use of the protocol over decades, only
few fully understand its detailed operation. So, in this document, we will explain the detailed operation
of DHCP through three different technical topics.
This document covers three technical topics about the detailed DHCP operations and is organized as
follows: Chapter II will describe how a DHCP client with an allocated/leased IP address detects IP address
conflicts through Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). Chapter III will describe how a DHCP Offer/Ack
message is unicasted or broadcasted to a DHCP server depending on the Broadcast Flag of a DHCP
Discover/Request message. Chapter IV will describe the state transition of a device (DHCP client) during
IP address allocation /lease and IP address renewal procedures.
Before you read this document it is recommended that you refer to the companion document,
Understanding the Basic Operations of DHCP [3].

II. Procedure for Detecting IP Address Conflicts

Once a device gets an IP address allocated by a DHCP server through the procedures (a) ~ (d) in Figure 1,
it broadcasts an ARP Request packet (using the allocated IP address as a target IP address) on the same
subnet to detect a client device which uses the same IP address as its own IP address, as shown in the
procedure (e) of Figure 1. Then it waits for any ARP Reply packet to be sent in response to the ARP
Request packet that it broadcasted. If there is an ARP Reply packet, it means there is a conflicting device
on the subnet, and if not, it means no conflicting device.

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

(a) Broadcasting DHCP Discover from PC to DHCP Server

Search for a DHCP server

PC

(b) Broadcasting DHCP Offer from DHCP Server to PC

A DHCP server
responds (I am here!)

DHCP Server

PC

DHCP Server

Internet

Internet

L2 SW

L2 SW

(c) Broadcasting DHCP Request from PC to DHCP Server

Request the DHCP server
for IP address

PC

DHCP Server

(d) Broadcasting DHCP Ack from DHCP Server to PC

An IP address allocated
by the DHCP server

PC

DHCP Server

Internet

Internet

L2 SW

L2 SW

(e) Broadcasting ARP Request from PC to Other PCs

Check for an IP address
that conflicts with the
allocated IP address

PC

(f) Unicasting ARP Reply from PC to PC

In case of an IP address
conflict, the PC with the
conflicting IP address
responds to ARP Request

DHCP Server

PC

DHCP Server

Internet
L2 SW

Internet
L2 SW

Figure 1. Procedure of IP address allocation and IP conflict detection

Figure 2 shows an ARP Request packet that is broadcasted from a PC (Windows 7) to detect an IP address
conflict. Here, the message that the packet is conveying is Please let me (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7) know if there is a
device with the IP address (192.168.10.11).

2
3
4

Ethernet II, Src: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)

Address Resolution Protocol (request)
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x0001)
Protocol type: IP (0x0800)
Hardware size: 6
Protocol size: 4
Opcode: request (0x0001)
[Is gratuitous: False]
Sender MAC address: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Sender IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Target MAC address: 00:00:00_00:00:00 (00:00:00:00:00:00)
Target IP address: 192.168.10.11 (192.168.10.11)

Figure 2. ARP Request packet for detection of an IP address conflict

The procedure for sending an ARP Request packet is as follows:

1. It is broadcasted to the entire subnet so that all the clients can receive the packet.
2. The Sender MAC address field includes the MAC address of the client sending the packet
(00:17:42:c1:c8:f7).
3. The Sender IP address field includes a void address (0.0.0.0) instead of an address allocated to the
client in order to prevent other devices/routers on the same subnet from updating their own ARP
caches (because it has not been confirmed yet whether or not the device can use the IP address
(192.168.10.11).
4. The Target IP address field includes the client IP address allocated by the DHCP server. If there is any

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

other client who is already using the same IP address, then it sends an ARP Reply packet in response
to the ARP Request packet.
In general, no other client on the subnet has the same IP address as the clients (unless the IP address has
been set as a static IP address in a PC). Obviously, then the client receives no ARP Reply packet that responds
to the ARP Request packet, and finally connects to the Internet using the IP address allocated by the DHCP
server.
However, in case there is other client already using the same IP address as the clients on the subnet, the
other client which received the ARP Request packet responds by unicasting an ARP Reply packet, as shown in
the procedure (f) of the Figure 1. That is to convey a message, Im using the IP address! to the client (sender
of the ARP Request packet). Figure 3 shows the information included in the ARP Reply packet.

2
2
3

Ethernet II, Src: Usi_15:4b:38 (00:1e:37:15:4b:38), Dst: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7(00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)

Address Resolution Protocol (reply)
Hardware type: Ethernet (0x0001)
Protocol type: IP (0x0800)
Hardware size: 6
Protocol size: 4
Opcode: reply (0x0002)
[Is gratuitous: False]
Sender MAC address: Usi_15:4b:38 (00:1e:37:15:4b:38)
Sender IP address: 192.168.10.11 (192.168.10.11)
Target MAC address: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Target IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)

Figure 3. ARP Reply packet sent by the conflicting client in case of an IP address conflict

The procedure for sending an ARP Reply packet is as follows:

1. The client who received an ARP Request packet sends an ARP Reply packet that includes the source
MAC address and the destination MAC address that are set as the MAC address of the ARP Reply
packet sender and the MAC address of the ARP Request packet sender, respectively.
2. The Sender MAC address and Sender IP address fields include the MAC address and the IP address of
the ARP Reply sender, respectively.
3. The Target MAC address field includes the MAC address of the ARP Reply packet receiver.
When the client becomes aware of the conflict of its IP address through these procedures, it notifies the DHCP
server of the fact that the allocated IP address is already in use on the subnet by sending a DHCP Decline
message to the server. Then, the client resumes another IP allocation procedure, broadcasting a DHCP
Discover message again.

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

III. DHCP Offer/Ack Messages: Broadcast or Unicast?

According to our technical document, Understanding the Basic Operations of DHCP [3], all DHCP messages
(including DHCP Offer/Ack) that are exchanged in the IP allocation procedure are broadcasted (Destination
MAC=FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, Destination IP=255.255.255.255) as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Ethernet and IP address of DHCP messages

DHCP Message

Destination MAC

Source MAC

Destination IP

Source IP

DHCP Discover

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

DHCP client (PC)

255.255.255.255

0.0.0.0

DHCP Offer

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

DHCP server

255.255.255.255

DHCP server

DHCP Request

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

DHCP client (PC)

255.255.255.255

0.0.0.0

DHCP Ack

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

DHCP server

255.255.255.255

DHCP server

However, some DHCP-related documents provide different explanations for the transfer mode of DHCP
Offer/Ack messages, causing confusion.
Hence, to have a more clear understanding, we configured a network environment in which Wireshark
(http://www.wireshark.org/) is installed at a PC (Windows 7) as shown in Figure 1. Then, we captured DHCP
messages to see if the messages are broadcasted or unicasted using the capture program, and analyzed the
captured messages to find out what makes them unicast or broadcast.
For this, we had the PC get an IP address by entering ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew in the DOS
command window.
DHCP Discover message
Figure 4 shows the DHCP Discover message sent by the PC (Windows 7) to the DHCP server.

1
2

Ethernet II, Src: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)

Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255)
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67)
Bootstrap Protocol
Message type: Boot Request (1)
Hardware type: Ethernet
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0xc59492f0
Seconds elapsed: 0
Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast)
0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast
.000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Client MAC address: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Client hardware address padding: 00000000000000000000
Server host name not given
Boot file name not given
Magic cookie: DHCP
Option: (t=53,l=1) DHCP Message Type = DHCP Discover
Option: (t=61,l=7) Client identifier
Option: (t=50,l=4) Requested IP Address = 192.168.10.28
Option: (t=12,l=8) Host Name = "NMC-PC"
Option: (t=60,l=8) Vendor class identifier = "MSFT 5.0"
Option: (t=55,l=12) Parameter Request List
End Option
Padding

Figure 4. DHCP Discover message

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

Here, the PC:

1. broadcasted a DHCP Discover message on the Ethernet, with the source MAC address and the
destination MAC address set as the PC MAC address and FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, respectively.
2. broadcasted a DHCP Discover message on the subnet, with the source IP address and the destination
IP address set as 0.0.0.0 and 255.255.255.255, respectively.
3. set Broadcast Flag in the message to 0 in order to let the DHCP server which would receive and
respond to the DHCP Discover message know that the PC would like to receive a DHCP Offer message
through unicast.
4. sent a DHCP Discover message along with its allocated IP address (192.168.10.28) that it had kept in it
(Windows 7 registry), in order to convey a message, I would like to receive the same IP address,
192.168.10.28 to the DHCP server.
DHCP Offer message
Figure 5 shows the DHCP Offer message sent by the DHCP server to the DHCP client (Windows 7) in response
to the DHCP Discover message.

1
2

Ethernet II, Src: EfmNetwo_ee:00:c8 (00:08:9f:ee:00:c8), Dst: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7

(00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Internet Protocol, Src: 192.168.10.1 (192.168.10.1), Dst: 192.168.10.28 (192.168.10.28)
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68)
Bootstrap Protocol
Message type: Boot Reply (2)
Hardware type: Ethernet
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0xc59492f0
Seconds elapsed: 0
Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast)
0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast
.000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Your (client) IP address: 192.168.10.28 (192.168.10.28)
Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Client MAC address: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Client hardware address padding: 00000000000000000000
Server host name not given
Boot file name not given
Magic cookie: DHCP
Option: (t=53,l=1) DHCP Message Type = DHCP Offer
Option: (t=54,l=4) DHCP Server Identifier = 192.168.10.1
Option: (t=51,l=4) IP Address Lease Time = 10 days
Option: (t=1,l=4) Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Option: (t=3,l=4) Router = 192.168.10.1
Option: (t=6,l=8) Domain Name Server
End Option
Padding

Figure 5. DHCP Offer message

Here, the DHCP server:

1. unicasted a message on the Ethernet, with the source MAC address and the destination MAC address
that are set as the DHCP server MAC address and the PC MAC address, respectively. This had a result
different from the one in Table 1 (where the destination IP address was a Broadcast address) because
of the Broadcast Flag value of the DHCP Discover message. In other words, if the Broadcast Flag value
of a DHCP Discover message is set to 0 (representing a Unicast mode), a DHCP server definitely
unicasts the DHCP Offer message.
6

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

2. unicasted a message on the IP subnet, with the source IP address and the destination IP address that
are set as the DHCP server IP address and the Your IP Address=192.168.10.28, respectively. Again,
this had a result different from the one in Table 1 (where the destination IP address was a Broadcast
address) because of the Broadcast Flag value of the DHCP Discover message. In other words, if the
Broadcast Flag value of a DHCP Discover message is set to 0 (representing a Unicast mode), a DHCP
server definitely unicasts a DHCP Offer message.
3. copied the Broadcast Flag value of the DHCP Discover message, pasted it into the corresponding field
of a DHCP Offer message, and then sent it to the client.
DHCP Request message
Figure 6 shows the DHCP Request message from the DHCP client (Windows 7) to the DHCP server.

1
2

Ethernet II, Src: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7), Dst: Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)

Internet Protocol, Src: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0), Dst: 255.255.255.255 (255.255.255.255)
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootpc (68), Dst Port: bootps (67)
Bootstrap Protocol
Message type: Boot Request (1)
Hardware type: Ethernet
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0xc59492f0
Seconds elapsed: 0
Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast)
0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast
.000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Your (client) IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Client MAC address: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Client hardware address padding: 00000000000000000000
Server host name not given
Boot file name not given
Magic cookie: DHCP
Option: (t=53,l=1) DHCP Message Type = DHCP Request
Option: (t=61,l=7) Client identifier
Option: (t=50,l=4) Requested IP Address = 192.168.10.28
Option: (t=54,l=4) DHCP Server Identifier = 192.168.10.1
Option: (t=12,l=8) Host Name = "NMC-PC"
Option: (t=81,l=11) Client Fully Qualified Domain Name
Option: (t=60,l=8) Vendor class identifier = "MSFT 5.0"
Option: (t=55,l=12) Parameter Request List
End Option

Figure 6. DHCP Request message

Here, the DHCP client:

1. broadcasted a message on the Ethernet, with the source MAC address and the destination MAC
address that are set as the PC MAC address and FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, respectively.
2. broadcasted a message on the IP subnet, with the source IP address and the destination IP address
that are set as 0.0.0.0 and 255.255.255.255, respectively.
3. set Broadcast Flag in the message to 0 in order to let the DHCP server which would receive and
respond to the DHCP Request message know that it would like to receive a DHCP Ack message
through unicast.
DHCP Ack message
Figure 7 shows the DHCP Ack message sent from the DHCP server to the DHCP client (Windows 7) in response
7

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

to the DHCP Request message.

1
2

Ethernet II, Src: EfmNetwo_ee:00:c8 (00:08:9f:ee:00:c8), Dst: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7

(00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Internet Protocol, Src: 192.168.10.1 (192.168.10.1), Dst: 192.168.10.28 (192.168.10.28)
User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: bootps (67), Dst Port: bootpc (68)
Bootstrap Protocol
Message type: Boot Reply (2)
Hardware type: Ethernet
Hardware address length: 6
Hops: 0
Transaction ID: 0xc59492f0
Seconds elapsed: 0
Bootp flags: 0x0000 (Unicast)
0... .... .... .... = Broadcast flag: Unicast
.000 0000 0000 0000 = Reserved flags: 0x0000
Client IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Your (client) IP address: 192.168.10.28 (192.168.10.28)
Next server IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Relay agent IP address: 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0)
Client MAC address: Fujitsu_c1:c8:f7 (00:17:42:c1:c8:f7)
Client hardware address padding: 00000000000000000000
Server host name not given
Boot file name not given
Magic cookie: DHCP
Option: (t=53,l=1) DHCP Message Type = DHCP ACK
Option: (t=54,l=4) DHCP Server Identifier = 192.168.10.1
Option: (t=51,l=4) IP Address Lease Time = 10 days
Option: (t=1,l=4) Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Option: (t=3,l=4) Router = 192.168.10.1
Option: (t=6,l=8) Domain Name Server
End Option
Padding

Figure 7. DHCP Ack message

Here, the DHCP server:

1. unicasted a message on the Ethernet, with the source MAC address and the destination MAC address
that are set as the DHCP server MAC address and the PC MAC address, respectively. The destination
address was NOT set as a broadcast MAC address because the Broadcast Flag value of the DHCP
Request message sent by the client is set to 0 (Unicast).
2. unicasted a message on the IP subnet, with the source IP address and the destination IP address that
are set as the DHCP server IP address and Your IP Address=192.168.10.28, respectively. Again as in
MAC addresses, the destination address was NOT set as a broadcast IP address because the
Broadcast Flag value of the DHCP Request message sent by the client is set to 0 (Unicast).
3. copied the Broadcast Flag value of the DHCP Request message, pasted it into the corresponding field
of a DHCP Ack message, and then sent it to the client.
Table 2 summarizes the foregoing test results. The Windows PC (Windows 7) set Broadcast Flag to 0 in the
DHCP Discover/Request message, so that it could receive the DHCP Offer/Ack message directly from the DHCP
server in the Unicast mode.
Table 2. Ethernet and IP address of DHCP message in a Windows 7 PC environment

DHCP Message

Broadcast Flag

Destination MAC

Source MAC

Destination IP

Source IP

DHCP Discover

0 (Unicast)

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

DHCP client (PC)

255.255.255.255

0.0.0.0

DHCP Offer

0 (Unicast)

DHCP client (PC)

DHCP server

DHCP client (PC)

DHCP server

DHCP Request

0 (Unicast)

FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

DHCP client (PC)

255.255.255.255

0.0.0.0

DHCP Ack

0 (Unicast)

DHCP client (PC)

DHCP server

DHCP client (PC)

DHCP server

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

As such, a DHCP server either broadcasts or unicasts a DHCP Offer/Ack message depending on the Broadcast
Flag value of DHCP Discover/Request messages. The following texts from the DHCP standard [1] are quoted to
objectively support such finding about the DHCP message operation.

If giaddr is zero and ciaddr is zero, and the broadcast bit is set
(in DHCPDISCOVER and DHCPREQUEST messages), then the server broadcasts
DHCPOFFER and DHCPACK messages to 0xffffffff

If the broadcast bit is not set and giaddr is zero and ciaddr is
zero (in DHCPDISCOVER and DHCPREQUEST messages), then the server
unicasts DHCPOFFER and DHCPACK messages to the clients hardware
address and yiaddr address

The Broadcast Flag value in a DHCP message varies (0 or 1) depending on TCP/IP implementation-specific
nature of a client PC. Some client PCs can NOT use an IP address as its destination address and receive a
unicast packet at this address until the IP address is finally allocated through a DHCP Ack message. In such
case, the client PC has already been programmed to send a DHCP Discover/Request message with Broadcast
Flag=1. As opposed to it, if the client PC (Windows PC) can receive a unicast packet even before IP allocation,
it has been programmed to send a DHCP Discover/Request message with Broadcast Flag=0.

IV. State Transition of DHCP Clients

Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the internal state transition of DHCP clients as DHCP messages are exchanged.

Windows 7
PC boot (reboot)

Windows 7
ipconifg /release, and then ipconfig /renew

INIT-REBOOT

INIT

Send (Broadcasting) DHCP Request to DHCP Server

REBOOTING

Send (Broadcasting) DHCP Discover to DHCP Server

SELECTING

Receive DHCP Offer from DHCP Server

Send (Broadcasting) DHCP Request to DHCP Server

Receive DHCP Ack from DHCP Server

REQUESTING
Receive DHCP Ack from DHCP Server

BOUND
Receive DHCP Ack
from DHCP Server

Receive DHCP Ack

from DHCP Server

IP Lease Time expired

Internet Access

T1 timer (0.5 x IP Lease Time) expired

Send (Unicasting) DHCP Request to DHCP Server

RENEWING

Internet Access

T2 timer (0.875 x IP Lease Time) expired

Send (Broadcasting) DHCP Request to all DHCP Servers

REBINDING

Internet Access

Figure 8. State transition diagram of DHCP clients

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

In the INIT state, a client PC broadcasts a DHCP Discover message to search for a DHCP server, and
transits to the SELECTING state.

In the SELECTING state, a client PC will stay in standby, waiting for a DHCP Offer message. Upon receiving
multiple DHCP Offer messages, the client PC selects one of the messages (i.e., a message received first or
one from the DHCP server which has previously allocated an IP address to it), and broadcasts a DHCP
Request message including the selected DHCP server information. Then, it transits to the REQEUSTING
state.

In the REQUESTING state, when a client PC receives a DHCP Ack message, it configures T1 and T2 timers
according to the IP address lease time specified in the DHCP Ack message, and transits to the BOUND
state. Here, the timers T1 and T2 are used to extend the IP address lease time, and can be configured as
follows in accordance with the reference [1]:

T1 timer: 0.5 x IP address lease time (e.g. T1 is set to 30 minutes if the IP address lease time is 1 hour)

T2 timer: 0.875 x IP address lease time (e.g. T1 is set to 52.5 minutes if the IP address lease time is 1
hour)

In the BOUND state, a client PC checks whether or not the IP address allocated by a DHCP server is in use
on the same subnet (Refer to the procedure for detecting IP address conflicts), and configures the
network environment according to the information included in the DHCP Ack message. Now, the client PC
is connected to the Internet. Later, if T1 timer is expired while the client PC is in the BOUND state, the
client PC unicasts a DHCP Request message for renewal of its IP address and then transits to the
RENEWING state.

In the RENEWING state, if the client PC receives a DHCP Ack message that includes network configuration
data from a DHCP server (and thus permitted to extend the IP address lease time), it resets T1 and T2
timers and transits to the BOUND state. If it gets no response from a server, it stays in standby, waiting
for a DHCP Ack message, until T2 timer is expired, and then transits to the REBINDING state. In the
RENEWING state, a client PC can stay online during the lease time even when it has not received any
DHCP Ack message from DHCP server(s).

In the REBINDING state, a client PC broadcasts a DHCP Request message on the subnet so that all of DHCP
servers can receive the message. In this state, if the client PC receives a DHCP Ack message from a DHCP
server, it resets T1 and T2 timers and transits back to the BOUND state. However, if it receives no
response message from DHCP server(s), it transits to the INIT state. In the REBINDING state, the client PC
can stay online until it transits to the INIT state even when it has not received any DHCP Ack message
from DHCP server(s).

INIT-REBOOT state stands for the state when a client PC is already aware of an IP address to be allocated,
and a client PC (Windows 7) transits to this state when it is rebooted. In this state, a client PC broadcasts
a DHCP Request message and then transits to the REBOOTING state.

10

Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

Note

In Windows 7, client PCs store and keep the network configuration data allocated (leased) by
DHCP server(s), and thus they turn to the INIT-REBOOT state when being rebooted.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\[Interf
ace Name]\

In the REBOOTING state, upon receiving a DHCP Ack message, a client PC sets T1 and T2 timers according
to the IP address lease time specified in the DHCP Ack message, and then transits to the BOUND state.

References
[1] R, Droms, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, RFC 2131, Standard, March 1997.
[2] W, Wimer, Clarifications and Extensions for the Bootstrap Protocol, RFC 1542, Standard, October 1993.
[3] Netmanias Technical Document, Understanding the Basic Operations of DHCP, October 2013,
[4] Bits&Pieces, http://www.kimiushida.com/bitsandpieces/articles/packet_analysis_dhcp/index.html

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Understanding the Detailed Operations of DHCP

Netmanias Research and Consulting Scope

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eMBMS/Mobile IPTV
CDN/Mobile CDN
Transparent Caching
BSS/OSS

Services

Cable TPS
Voice/Video Quality
IMS
Policy Control/PCRF
IPTV/TPS
LTE

Mobile
Network

Mobile WiMAX
Carrier WiFi
LTE Backaul
Data Center Migration
Carrier Ethernet
FTTH

Wireline
Network

Data Center
Metro Ethernet
MPLS
IP Routing

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NMC Consulting Group is an advanced and professional network consulting company, specializing in IP network areas (e.g., FTTH, Metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS), service
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